Cryptic Wood White survey in Craigavon

It has recently been discovered that Ireland has two species of Wood White butterfly: Leptidea sinapis, which is restricted to the Burren and nearby areas (and is the same species as that found in Great Britain) and the Cryptic Wood White - Leptidea juvernica - which is found in the rest of Ireland, including Northern Ireland, but is absent from GB.

Resolution of the conflicting and confusing identifications and distributions was temporarily further confused by the suggestion that one of the species was Leptidea reali, which is found in France. It seems that the situation has now been satisfactorily resolved, and it now remains to examine local populations to be sure we have the correct distributions. There is no sure way of separating the species by morphological characters, although differences have been proposed, so the only way to be sure is to sample populations and examine the genitalia.

The purpose of yesterday's visit to Craigavon was to train recorders in the identification of Cryptic Wood White (CWW) and to demonstrate a recording system for subsequent use in tracking this (and other) species.

But me being me, I didn't restrict myself to CWW, and I recorded more or less everything else we encountered.

First, though, a shot of the courtship behaviour of CWW:

Courtship behaviour in Cryptic Wood White, Leptidea juvernica

The male (left) usually sits higher and repeatedly swipes his antennae and proboscis over the face of the female. This courtship can take up to 30 minutes to complete. If the female accepts him, mating takes place. We saw one recently-emerged female being courted by two successive males before her wings had even fully inflated.

Gorse bushes were very fruitful, and were covered with Gorse Shieldbug:

Gorse Shieldbug

And their eggs: 

Eggs of Gorse Shieldbug

I also found many specimens of the minute (3 mm.) Gorse Weevil, Exapion ulicis:

Gorse Weevil, Exapion ulicis

New to my Species List.

There were a great many Common Blue damselflies: 

Common Blue damselfly (Enallagma cyathigerum)

And a few Blue-tailed damsels:

Blue-tailed Damsel

I found a few galls of the mite Eriophyes pyri quite early on in the walk:

The gall mite Eriophyes pyri on Rowan.

This appears to be the first record for NI, with one previous record from Ireland, and new to my Species List.

A record shot of the Mirid bug Harpocera thoracica. The male antennae have an interesting 'structure'.

Mirid bug Harpocera thoracica (male)

New to my Species List.

The day-flying Mother Shipton moth caught my eye, and it posed conveniently for a few shots:

Mother Shipton moth

I have seen the Lacehopper Tachycixius pilosus quite a few times, but this one seems to have a mite of some kind under the left wing. Mites usually position themselves in places where they can't be scratched off.

The Lacebug, Tachycixius pilosus

Finally, a Tetragnatha sp. 'Stretch Spider'. There are a couple of these that can't be separated without a microscope:

Tetragnatha sp. 'Stretch Spider'

Not bad for around 2 hours work, and we did count around 25 CWW. 

Bioblitz workshop in Merlin Woods

On Tuesday, I ran a workshop on Bioblitzing in Merlin Woods, Galway. A dozen or so of us surveyed two areas of woodland and associated meadows, recording plants, insects, birds and lichens. The woodland is clearly ancient, and sits on limestone with areas of limestone pavement, leading to a wide biodiversity.

The workshop was arranged by the Friends of Merlin Woods, who are working very hard to reverse years of encroachment, and are preserving this wonderful resource for the future.

My personal list for the day reached around 200 species and this post shows some of the highlights.

I entrusted my net to two lads who were happy to chase down particular specimens on request, and we were able to photograph two specimens of the 4-spotted Chaser:

4-spotted Chaser

Since the woodland is on limestone and is a good deal further south than the area I usually survey, I had hoped to find species new to my list. One welcome addition is the Gorse Shieldbug. These are rather skittish and quickly run out of sight. You really need to wait until they think you're gone in order to get a decent shot:

Gorse Shieldbug. On Gorse.

New to my species list.

Oak trees are host to hundreds of species of insect and fungi, so are always worth a look. I spotted a new miner, which has now been identified and confirmed as the micromoth Acrocercops brongniardella which is rather scarce with just a handful of records in the country:

Mines of the micromoth Acrocercops brongniardella on oak

New to my species list.

At first I thought this was the common jumping spider Salticus scenicus, but when the images were blown up I realised that it was quite different. The dayglow yellow palps and striped legs leads us to Heliophana cupreus. About 6mm long.

The jumping Spider Heliophanus cupreus

New to my species list.

A dark area of woodland contained countless specimens of Birds-nest Orchid:

Birds Nest Orchid

New to my species list.

The woodland has some unusual trees, with interesting specimens cropping up in unexpected places. One Whitebeam had leaf galls which immediately attracted my attention, since the tree is scarce and galls are largely overlooked. It keys straight to the mite Eriophyes arianus, and I can find no previous records for Ireland.

Eriophyes arianus, top view

Eriophyes arianus, underside

New to my species list, and probably first Irish record.